Wolf Dad is China’s new parenting guru and he’s even harsher than Tiger Mom

The problem with Tiger Mother Amy Chua may be not that she was too strict, but that she wasn’t strict enough. At least one Chinese dad might see it that way.

According to Xiao Baiyou, a Hong Kong businessman, the only correct way to raise your children is to beat them ruthlessly from the ages of 3 to 12. He’s written a book on his child-rearing techniques that got three of his four children into Peking University, one of China’s top colleges. From NPR:

Xiao, 47, describes himself as the emperor of his family. As such, he’s laid down an extraordinary system of rules for his children.

“I have more than a thousand rules: specific detailed rules about how to hold your chopsticks and your bowl, how to pick up food, how to hold a cup, how to sleep, how to cover yourself with a quilt,” Xiao says. “If you don’t follow the rules, then I must beat you.”

For each violation of the rules, such as sleeping in the wrong position, the penalty is to be hit with a feather duster on the legs or the palm of the hand. If it doesn’t leave a mark, then it won’t make an impact, Xiao says.

Xiao’s book hits China just as the controversy over Chua’s parenting methods, which included taking a child’s stuffed animals away, banning sleepovers and accepting nothing but the very best, were published in her memoir The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

Just as debate over Chua’s parenting methods erupted in the United States, China has been grappling with the idea that parents need to return to a stricter, more traditional and authoritarian approach to child rearing. The idea is that even harsh discipline is acceptable in the hopes of making children more competitive and successful later in life.

It should be noted however that many parents in China are outraged at Xiao’s suggestions. One editor at a Chinese paper called The Daily Worker says: “Wolf daddy can only train wolf cubs. This story has nothing to do with human beings.” Another woman wrote: “You are building your vanity on your children’s pain,” according to MSNBC.

Xiao says he stopped beating his children at age 12 because at that age their personalities are already shaped and that beating does more harm than good. Before that age he believes they are more like animals that must be harshly disciplined with enough pain to make them remember.

He says he wasn’t always beating the kids over the rules, however. Sometimes he planned special events such as trips to the sea or parties. He says his kids are happy and that the term “wolf” fits his personality.

“Wolves look ferocious and brutal, yet they have great wisdom and are exceptionally tender to their cubs,” he told China Daily. “It’s just like me: My brutality is all out of love.”